After some 14 years of faithful service, on and off, my big Ugly Stick finally decided it was time to call it a day at CMAC on 12/11/24 as part of its 3rd flight on the day.
The airframe had been through quite a bit over the years including being a test bed for 3 different engines – Saito FA80, Saito FG14 and finally an NGH GT17. It was on its 4th undercarriage mounting system and had only just been upgraded with new rudder posts after the pinned hinges had pulled out of the soft balsa sheeting.
Strangely enough one of the newer members of CMAC who flies foamy EDF’s had asked me earlier, just how long glued balsa models might last … well now I know. As yo can see in the photo’s the wing bolt block had actually been the failure point resulting in the entire wing departing the airframe and landing undamaged some 20+m from the point of arrival for everything else.
Though I have the tools and the skills, I wont rebuild this one. Maybe the tail will one day get mounted to a plaque, and hung on the wall of my shed as a reminder that sometimes stuff just has had enough.
It is always a sad moment when a much loved model finally goes to the airfield in the sky.
May be we need an annual comp for the most spectacular model crash with the plaque (with mounted tail) as the award.